The Budding Gay Areas in Chiang Mai

This is in no way a thread to wish any ill will on our new Chiang Mai sponsor, and since I did visit one of the night clubs and a couple of massage venues there a few weeks ago it may sound slightly hypocritical - but please hear me out before taking me to task, will you?

I guess what un-nerves me the most (and yes, IтАЩm well aware IтАЩm posting this on a board that is mainly gay life oriented) is how so many applaud the appearance of what are essentially tourist brothels as тАЬessential highlightsтАЭ in what are otherwise more or less unspoiled areas of an idyllic, beautiful country.

IтАЩm not sure if Beach Bunny has gone on about this in his current incarnation or not, but he and others have been 100% correct that there is SO, so much more to Thailand than young men onstage in Speedos, what they will or will not do in your hotel room and the price of alcohol. DonтАЩt get me wrong тАУ even with my advancing middle age and ever-so-slightly diminishing libido I enjoy a club viewing or everyday тАЬwalking sceneryтАЭ as much as the next dedicated rice queen, but dear lord, does there have to be a TouristтАЩs Red Light District in EVERY province?

Having had a longer stay in Chiang Mai this past visit I was pleased to be away from the hustle and bustle of the Patpong temptations for a change, and I should think that others like myself who are more than weary of almost everyone they know back home doing that stale old тАЬwink wink, nudge nudgeтАЭ routine when they hear youтАЩre going to or are just back from Thailand would agree. Relatively unspoiled Udon Thani might be next, since so many club guys seem to be from that area тАУ and personally that makes me a little sad.

PattayaтАЩs reputation has already made it the unwashed armpit of Thailand (worldwide), Phuket has itтАЩs seamy side that even a tragic tsunami couldnтАЩt wash away and of course Bangkok still reigns supreme in itтАЩs sleaze factorтАж itтАЩs too bad that those canтАЩt be enough, in my somewhat-less-than-humble opinion.

Granted, the WorldтАЩs Oldest Profession exists nearly everywhere in one form or another тАУ perhaps more so in the land of тАЬmai pen raiтАЭ, but is there really a need for neon and touts in quite so many locations?

OK, IтАЩve turned and bent over to grab my ankles. Let the caning begin.

тАЬThey paved paradise and put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique and a swinging hot spot
Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lotтАЭ
-- Joni Mitchell

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z...romTheAir1.jpg

(Edited to add a photo taken on approach to Chiang Mai last month)

I couldn't agree more bao-bao...I have also found that the majority of guys that I know living and working here (more so in Bangkok) very rarely if at all frequent the boy bars..........

:hello1:

Bao bao, good to klnow that you have arrived in Chiang Mai safe and well and are enjoying yourself.

You are a level headed man and my feeling is you are going to enjoy it there a lot and perhaps often. Do all the tourist things don't leave any out.

High in the mountains outside Chiang Mai town is Doi Suthep ... fantastic! Great photo ops looking back toward the city. No doubt you and your trusty camera have been there already. Have they taken the scaffolding down around the main dome yet? And Wat Chedi also deserves your attention. Plenty of opportunities for a good photographer there.

I had a single drink at a gay bar with a member of this forum and that was the extent of my gay outings while there. Mind you I was only there for 5 days and had many things set up to see and having my lover with me helped keep me occupied otherwise.

Cheers Bao Bao ... it was nice to meet you and Bobey says hello also,
krobbie

Ditto, bao-bao and sanook.

.... and apparently when they paved paradise (Hawaii) and put up the parking lot the temperature, literally, went up by a degree and a half.

Not a lot of people know that ... and krobbie, not many know that there is a curse on Doi Suthep that if you visit it with your partner that your relationship will end - Nong Nooch Garden in Pattaya has a similar curse, so I am told.


.... a mine of useless information, and none of it Googled!

Bangkok is a city with an estimated population of 15 million. Apart from a couple of isolated areas the sleaze is not, shall we say, in your face. You have to go and look for it? Phuket is also very tame in this respect. Gay men, especially older gay men, rarely get the opportunity to get in the sack with anything that would resemble an Adonis in the country of their origin. Thailand maybe the land of smiles but it is definitely the land of fantasies - a place where one can actually fall in love, feel loved - for a price? I lived for 55 years in a culture that would have gladly imprisoned me in the flower of my youth if I acted on any of my repressed thoughts. In Thailand the straight jacket that was my sexuality can be assigned to fires of conformity and I enter a world of compassion, gentleness, respect and unbridled passion. I can at last be me - uncensored. I cannot blame anyone who wants to shout about their conquests in this small corner of the electronic universe.

True, for most people (East or West) the openess of the gay culture in LOS (and what is available massage parlors, go-go boy bars and such) makes it a gay man's Disneyland. But , like Disneyland, the newness starts to wear down. I agree with the earlier comment, Chang Mai, Bangkok, or Patong, Phuket will have its "sleaze" but one has to look hard for it (well, it IS in your face in Pattaya). There are plenty of "tourist" things to do in these cities.

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Originally Posted by Gone Fishing

Ditto, bao-bao and sanook.

... and krobbie, not many know that there is a curse on Doi Suthep that if you visit it with your partner that your relationship will end - Nong Nooch Garden in Pattaya has a similar curse, so I am told.

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GF, I am mortified! :crybaby:

I hope the curse doesn't take hold as I am most fond I my guy and we have been going out for 2 years. :nud:

krobbie

OP: with respect i do not quite understand your post. You entitle it "the budding gay areas in Chiang Mai" and you give us a nice photo.But then you go on to criticise the tardiness of gay bars etc.
Some of us what like to have the latest info on CM.
Where are these budding gay area's in CM?
What is wrong with having bars and clubs to meet other gays?
So what that it is commercial, that is the nature of Thaland and how it survives.
Many of us either come to live or visit here because of the excitment of the nightlife, bars and the fun gay sex scene.
To refer to Pattaya as an unwashed armpit, Phuket as "seamy", Bangkok as "sleaze" suggests you are better off back in your own country.
Whilst I have not visited CM recently,what it need is more bars and place for gays to meet and have fun.
That will really get the place rocking.
Right?

Thanks for the thoughtful reply, zinzone, but I think perhaps you missed my point. Please read the original post again, if you would. If youтАЩre still confused, let me try it in different words:

There are PLENTY of places ALREADY for gay (and straight) tourists looking for orgasms to go in Thailand. There are more than enough venues than the market can bear now in Pattaya, Phuket and Bangkok. If that wasnтАЩt the case there wouldnтАЩt be the continual whining about the lack of customers. There isnтАЩt any need to install another тАЬBubble Butt DisneylandтАЭ in Chiang Mai, Khon Kean, Surin, Udon Thani, Hat Yai or anywhere else.

Granted, there will always be тАЬgayтАЭ meeting places тАУ thatтАЩs to be expected in a reasonable and tolerant culture such as there is in ThailandтАж but thereтАЩs a difference between a social setting and a тАЬpay for playтАЭ business complex, i.e. Boyztown, Sunee, Paradise, Soi Twilight, etc. You see what I mean?

Go to Chiang Mai to enjoy the relatively unspoiled countryside (the reason I included a photo). Go buy some furniture and ship it home, shop for ceramics and textiles, enjoy wandering the night market, see Doi Suthep, Doi Inthanon, the Vachiratharn Falls and yes, spend any number of evenings meeting other gay locals, expatriates and fellow tourists at small clubs, pubs or тАЬrub and a tugтАЭ massage parlors, if you wish. I don't even drink and I had a couple of pleasant evenings at Soho, where I got some tips on getting around and met a handsome young male waiter that was interested in going out with me on his day off, so contacts CAN be made without an off fee. I wasn't looking so never followed up on it, but there are friends to be made (so to speak).

The point is: With the established availability in the places I mentioned, why is it necessary to continue building Gay Theme Parks all over the Kingdom? If you want to get your rocks off and donтАЩt have the time, patience or canтАЩt be bothered to establish contact in the traditional way, stick with the Gay Meccas already established.

You said тАЬthat is the nature of Thailand and how it survives,тАЭ but I most strongly disagree. The nature of Thailand is to be tolerant. If every sex tourist went home tomorrow, Thailand would survive just fine, after some adjustments.

May I also remind you that while I referred to Pattaya as the armpit of the country (which it is, ask around - although I may have been a BIT too harsh) it also has some lovely parts, too. I spent a fine week there last month without going out whoring around other than two brief stops in a club to admire the Thai male form, one of those to say hello to an old friend whoтАЩs still тАЬin the businessтАЭ that I'm unprepared to take on financially as some here have. I did not say that Phuket was тАЬseamyтАЭ, only that it has its seamy side (also true), and that Bangkok still reigns supreme in itтАЩs sleaze factor, which is ALSO true, unless you want to compare it to the gay and straight pay for play area(s) of Pattaya.

IтАЩm certainly not condemning you personally (or any other member of the forum, for that matter) but judging from the cat fighting that dominates the forums here, IтАЩd say there were already plenty of sand boxes in the Land of Smiles.

Chiang Mai didnтАЩt need Lavender Lanna/Power Boys complex, lovely though it may well be. Again, I wish them no ill will, but Jeez LouiseтАж

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Originally Posted by krobbie

I hope the curse doesn't take hold as I am most fond I my guy and we have been going out for 2 years. :nud:

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Maybe it takes a long time to work ....

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Originally Posted by baobao

while I referred to Pattaya as the armpit of the country ..... it also has some lovely parts, too.

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Inside city limits?? Things must have changed in the last 24 hours!

Lavender Lanna Hotel is pleased to announce a partnership with Asian Plus Travel (formerly Bird Tours) which is regarded as one of N. Thailand's best tour companies for gay men. Asian Plus Travel will operate the tour desk inside Lavender Lanna Hotel. Of special interest is a twice-daily, ninety-minute introduction tour to Chiang Mai and a weekly gay day trip that will include a visit to the Royal Flora Expo, lunch and swimming at one of the area's stunning waterfalls, and a gentle rafting excursion.

The tour desk is staffed by gay men who are native to Northern Thailand and who know the area very well as they have been providing tours for gay men and lesbians for many years and have excellent feedback on web boards such as Utopia. They can help with any travel arrangements and offer a wide variety of tours in CM and North Thailand.

Chiang Mai is Thailand's second largest city and offers a stunning array of activities ranging from outdoor activities, nature parks, museums, temples, impressive architectural and historical sites, adventure travel and trekking, incredible shopping, and much more. The Lavender Lanna Hotel complex is very pleased to offer lodging and entertainment facilities for gay men and friends from around the world in order to complement their time and their stay in wonderful Chiang Mai. We realize gay travelers and locals seek out a wide range of daytime and evening activities and that the more venues and services offered then the more gays will seek out this wonderful city. Chiang Mai is an experience like no other in Thailand, and in our view is a true world-class destination for gay travelers, and we welcome all gays to Chiang Mai.

For more information about Asian Plus Travel, please visit their website at www.asianplustravel.com.

For more information on Chiang Mai, and the over 50 gay businesses in Chaing Mai that serve gay tourists and locals, then please visit the new website for gay Chiang Mai, Out in Chiang Mai at www.outinchiangmai.com.

Many thanks to lavenderlannahotel for your information !
It will help me to organise respt. to get organised my 10 days stay in Chiang Mai !
GREAT and again thank you !

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Chiang Mai is Thailand's second largest city and ........

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Actually, Nakhon Ratchasima is about 25% larger population wise.

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Originally Posted by krobbie

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Originally Posted by Gone Fishing

Ditto, bao-bao and sanook.

... and krobbie, not many know that there is a curse on Doi Suthep that if you visit it with your partner that your relationship will end - Nong Nooch Garden in Pattaya has a similar curse, so I am told.

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GF, I am mortified! :crybaby:

I hope the curse doesn't take hold as I am most fond I my guy and we have been going out for 2 years. :nud:

krobbie

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Of course all relationships will end.........................eventually, unless one believes in the concept of love for all eternity. Eight years since our trip there and still going strong.

I do agree with you bao-bao, but at the same time, why get angry and flustered about something you can't change?

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Originally Posted by cdnmatt

I do agree with you bao-bao, but at the same time, why get angry and flustered about something you can't change?

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Not angry or flustered, but thank you for your concern. You misread/misinterpreted my posts, unfortunately: it's really more of a lament than anything else.

Honestly, it doesn't bother me too much that (to oversimplify) so many visit Thailand and see nothing more than Boyztown and the chairs at Rit's - it just means more room for the rest of us in other areas of the country.

...Well, that and I don't have to witness nearly as many "silverheads" dragging bored, spikey-haired guys the age of their grandchildren around while leering at the novice monks! :cheers: